Rutgers University Astrophysics Seminar

ABSTRACT: The Herschel Space Observatory, a 3.5m far-infrared telescope, was launched 14 May 2009, and is now located at the Earth-Sun L2 point, carrying out imaging and spectroscopy at wavelengths from 70 ?m to 500 ?m with LHe-cooled detectors. For reference, the longest wavelength for imaging by the Spitzer Space Telescope was 160 ?m, and the longest wavelength for spectroscopy was 38 ?m. The cryogen lifetime is estimated to be three years. I will review a few selected early results from Herschel, but will focus on some of the studies being carried out by the KINGFISH "key project" on the dust and gas in nearby well-resolved galaxies, with comparisons between observations and models for the dust.